Ebony & Ivory sitting in a tree..

Old Dog New Slang

Last Monday, I sent my homeboy an instant message telling him “my idgaf was on fleek today”. He had to stop the conversation immediately to berate me for using such language. Funny thing is, I don’t use “on fleek” when I speak, but due to my regular social media presence, this new slang ends up in my text vernacular.

The great (or terrible, if you ask my dude) thing about the internet is that the things we say every day are becoming national. Everyone in the country, and even the world, is part of the conversation. I grew up on all kinds of slang in my thirty plus years. With social media, if something someone says is repeated by enough people, it becomes a regular part of the online conversation, and even bleeds into our personal lives.

Here are some of the words I have encountered in the last few years during my online travels and my interpretation of their meanings with sample sentences. Enjoy!

Turn Up: (verb) to enhance your current mood and/or atmosphere; to get hype; to get drunk; “You can sit around here and eat that turnip if you want, but me, I’m turnin’ up tonight” past tense and adjective: Turnt Up; “Yo, that place was lit, figuratively and literally, so it burnt up but fuck it cuz we was turnt up”

Lit: (adj) an environment where the energy of the participants is high; “The Weeknd was dancing on stage with fire in the background looking like he died and went to hell and it was LIT!”

On Fleek: (adj) usually referring to personal style or circumstance that is near perfection; “I’ve been having a bad year, but this week on fleek, bruh”

Bae: (noun) your significant other or most preferred partner among partners; someone you have a crush on; “Orlando Bloom in the second Hobbit movie, that’s bae right there”

Or Nah: a phrase that ends a question that offers no as an optional answer; “You tryna get the dick or nah?” or “Yas, bitch, yas or nah?”

Be Like: a phrase used to reference the mannerisms, actions, or situation of a particular group of people, circumstance, or element of your life; “Thots be like ‘Hold on, girl, bae number two is on the other line'” or “My bank account be like *picture of anal bleeding*”

Thot: (noun/verb) an acronym for that hoe over there; a word to imply sexual looseness; though it is an acronym, it is more typically used as a noun or verb; “He’s a thot” or “Bae said I can thot this weekend” Furthermore, thot is combined with existing words to imply its meaning; “Look at that thotpocket over there” or “Bae is so thotful”

Bruh: (interjection) a word derived from bro or brother to share a reaction of cool astonishment; “Bruh!!!” (noun) a word that usually ends a sentence when addressing someone and providing condescending advice, making a point, or sharing interesting information; “See and that right there, bruh, is why Barack Obama is the GOAT of Presidents”

In Your Feelings: a phrase referring to being emotional and expressing said emotion, typically towards a male; “Every time you don’t get no pussy on the weekend you get all up in your feelings”

Excluding black social media queen slang cuz these chicks keep blockin’ me and I stay in my feelings about it..